Christmas List: Dreaming of Sous Vide

by Ted Loos

on 12/06/11 at 01:00 PM

Texture is one of the most under-appreciated elements of wine tasting--when people are starting out, they generally stick to picking out flavors rather than saying how the wine feels in the mouth. Part of the reason I love red Burgundy is the delicate warp and weave on the palate of the very best bottlings.

So it makes a certain sense that I really want a sous vide machine for Christmas. When you're in a restaurant and the steak or salmon has that preternaturally smooth and giving texture, that cooked-but-not-cooked etherial tenderness, it's usually been sous vide-d.

Even though it means "under vacuum" en Francais, the technique is really all about a long, slow water bath at a low temperature it would be impossible to hold otherwise. You pop the meat or the veg (from what I can tell, sous vide truly excels with the former) in the machine and leave it in there for hours.

The Sous Vide Supreme is $399 on Amazon right now--it's kind of expensive. But Santa, I've been very good all year. I listened politely when California winemakers told me that their Chardonnay is somehow Burgundian tasting. I raised money at a bowl-a-thon for my favorite non-profit, NY Youth at Risk. I did not post anything snarky about other writers on Twitter even though I really wanted to. So I think I'm due for the Supreme under my tree.

Do you have one of these babies? Do they work? Is this device soooo 2009 and I'm missing out what I should really be wanting this Christmas? Let me know @LoosLips or in the comments section here.